1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming device, an image forming device terminal for giving instructions to the image forming device, an image forming system made up of such devices, and a program used in the image forming system, and more particularly, to an image forming device which requests user authentication for the start of printout process, an image forming device terminal (an image formation instructing device) which gives a printout instruction to the image forming device, an image forming system made up of such devices, and programs used in the devices making up the image forming system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the image forming device is connected to a plurality of information processing devices (image forming device terminals) by way of a network, and is shared by a plurality of users using the plurality of information processing devices. The image forming device is a digital multifunction peripheral (MultiFunction Peripheral (MFP), a Scan Print Copy (SPC), or All In One (AIO)) having at least two or more functions of a printer, a facsimile, a copying machine, a scanner, and the like. The information processing device (image forming device terminal) is a personal computer (PC), or the like. The image forming device and the information processing device are communicably connected to each other by way of a communication network such as Local Area Network (LAN) and the Internet to configure an image forming system. The image forming system can be formed by connecting one image forming device and one information processing device one-to-one in its minimum configuration. Recently, however, a large-scale image forming system is often being built up in which a plurality of image forming devices and a plurality of information processing devices are connected to each other.
When the user attempts to output a printed material of a desired document using the image forming device in such image forming system, the user uses the information processing device to specify the data file of the relevant document saved in the image forming system, select and specify the image forming device to execute the printout of the relevant document from a plurality of image forming devices in the image forming system, and finally, input an instruction to execute the printout to the information processing device.
The information processing device sends job data described with the specified data file and various setting data related to the printout to the specified image forming device. The image forming device that received the job data executes printing based on the job data. The document printed material is discharged from a paper discharge tray of the image forming device. The user then goes to the image forming device and collects the discharged document printed material.
However, the user is not necessarily nearby the image forming device when the document printed material is discharged from the image forming device. Since the image forming device is shared by a plurality of users, another user might be near the image forming device. Thus, a problem of ensuring information security related to the document printed material discharged from the image forming device arises in the image forming system.
JP 6-183110 A discloses a printing device (printer). Such printing device receives print data from a plurality of host computers connected by way of a network, and executes printing based on the received print data. The print data sent to the printer may contain a password. Thus, when receiving the print data from the computer, the printer determines whether or not a password is contained in the received print data. When determined that the received data contains a password, the printer executes the printout based on the received print data only after confirming that the user has correctly input the password through a user interface of the printer.
The printing device disclosed in JP 6-183110 A executes printing when the password given to the print data is matched with the password input by the user. The relevant printing device ensures information security on the information included in the print data in this manner.
The technique disclosed in JP 6-183110 A is a technique in which the printing device requests for a password to be input by the user, that is, user authentication as a trigger for defining the start of printout, and is not a technique in which the printing device determines whether or not to perform the user authentication serving as a trigger for defining the start of printout for each printout process.
JP 2006-145785 A discloses an image forming device. Such image forming device can ask another image forming device to perform the user authentication process in an environment in which data can be transmitted and received with another image forming device via the network.
Therefore, in the image forming device disclosed in JP 2006-145785 A, all the information necessary for carrying out the user authentication do not need to be provided in the image forming device. The image forming device of JP No. 2006-145785 A thus succeeded in saving work load necessary for the user to register the information of the user authentication in the image forming device in advance.
JP 2006-15625 A discloses an image processing device. Such image processing device includes a job information display means capable of displaying information of the job registered in the image forming device. In addition, the image processing device restricts the display of information on the job on the job information displaying means with respect to the job provided with authentication information, thereby ensuring confidentiality of the job. The restriction on such job is canceled only when the image processing device succeeds in user authentication based on the authentication information, whereby the information related to the specific registered job can be displayed on the job information displaying means.
The user authentication is subsequently executed on a regular basis, and the restriction canceled state of the job information display is continued during the period the image processing device succeeds in user authentication. The relevant image processing device thus ensures operability with respect to the image processing device of the user who registered the job provided with authentication information.
JP 2005-84783 A discloses a printing system. The printing system includes a print instructing device for sending a print instruction to the printing device, and the printing device for executing printing in response to the print instruction. The printing system holds information related to the installed position of the printing device, which information related to the installed position of the printing device is appropriately provided to the print instructing device.
Thus, when the user selects the printing device to send the print instruction at the print instructing device, the user can select the printing device to actually send the print instruction by referencing the information related to the installed position of the printing device. In the printing system disclosed in JP 2005-84783 A, the user can rapidly determine the desired printing device in view of the installed position of the printing device.
Numerous documents related to information security of the image forming system have been proposed.
The image forming device for performing user authentication through predetermined user authentication means arranged in the image forming device at the start of execution of the printout as disclosed in JP 6-183110 A is already widely known. The technical methodology adopted in the technique of JP 6-183110 A is an effective methodology for ensuring the user to be near the image forming device when the image forming device actually executes the printout.
However, it is sometimes bothersome for the user to perform user authentication on the predetermined user authentication means arranged in the image forming device to cause the image forming device to actually start the execution of the printout. The user particularly feels bothered about the user authentication when the information processing device to which the user has input the print instruction and the image forming device that executes the printout are relatively close in terms of distance, or when a person who is not desirable in terms of information security related to the document printed material is in the same room as the user.